5. Reclaiming the Ancient Human Way of Death - Cari & Richard Leversee

Six days before leaving her body, Cari Leversee and her husband Richard spoke with me about their journey together unto death. Cari died the way she had lived- with curiosity and grace, exploring, learning, and teaching every day. Our conversation is both profound and beautiful, and I am honored to have been a conduit through which Cari's wisdom, in her time of dying, can reach a wider audience.

In the intro:

  • How some people become exalted beings in their time of dying

In the interview:

  • Dying out loud + creating a living funeral

  • Approaching death with wonder, & finding love in the face of terror

  • Mushrooms & microbes as honored elders / Cari’s experience microdosing on psilocybin during the dying process  / Mushrooms teach us to lead with soul consciousness, show us how to die, and greatly reduce fear in terminal patients

  • Bringing together the love and life and grief and pain and agony of death is where the healing happens

  • Grief and love are not different emotions- the depth of love equals the depth of grief

  • Home funerals: ecstasy, healing, and community / Alternative options for body disposal- deep sea burial, alkaline hydrolosis (or water cremation), green burial / Casket art

  • “I want to go into my death with my arms open”

  • What it is like to watch your beloved life partner die, “I have no intention of getting over my grief.”

  • How our culture gets grief wrong

  • I ask Cari if she's afraid

  • In death, you recognize the true source of self

In the Outro:

  • Cari's passing

  • We die how we lived

  • More about microdosing

Links:

Cari Leversee